Fernandinho expects six-way title race

Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho believes six teams are capable of winning the Premier League this season.

The Brazil international, who arrived at the Etihad Stadium from Shakhtar Donetsk in June for a fee of around £30million, feels the current top four - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham - will be battling it out with City and champions Manchester United come May.

Fernandinho expects a tight race for the title and feels the next few months could be crucial in determining the destination of the trophy.

"I keep hearing all the time that this will be one of the greatest tournaments (Premier League seasons) in the last years," he told Perform.

"That's because there are so many clubs fighting for the title with real chances - Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool, United, City, Chelsea - six teams with real chances.

"Each team started this season on its own way. Our team started really well, then we had some bad results but now we could get everything together again.

"United did not start well … Tottenham and Arsenal had a good start.

"Liverpool started really well, then they dropped the quality of performance a bit but, as I said, these six teams are favourites to win the title.

"The one that will be more consistent until the end, now we are approaching the winter time, (is likely to prevail). We have a lot of games in November, December, January, February, March until April."

Fernandinho, who won six Ukrainian Premier League titles during his eight-year stint at Shakhtar, pinpoints squad depth and the ability to juggle a number of competitions as key factors in enjoying a successful season.

"The squad good enough to swap players and keep the quality for many games, I believe this team has more chances to get in the end of the tournament with real chances to win the title," he added.